SUPERMAN II: The Donner Cut DVD review

[dekadentdave]

Superman is like a rechargable battery. The Yellow Sun charges that battery, the more he is around it, he is constantly being charged up. Just like a battery once you remove it from its charger, its still fully functional and can be used to its full potential for the life of the battery, dependant on the usage the battery will either sustain its energy or if the usage is unusually taxing run out quickly. There have been Superman stories where large fights away from Earth's sun drains him to the point of exhaustion. His fights on Apokolips really drain his battery quickly.

Can Supes recharge my ipod?

 

[Gruff Old Bear]

"Superman's Song"
Crash Test Dummies

Tarzan wasn't a ladies' man
He'd just come along and scoop 'em up under his arm
Like that, quick as a cat in the jungle
But Clark Kent, now there was a real gent
He would not be caught sittin' around in no
Junglescape, dumb as an ape doing nothing

[Chorus:]
Superman never made any money
For saving the world from Solomon Grundy
And sometimes I despair the world will never see
Another man like him

Hey Bob, Supe had a straight job
Even though he could have smashed through any bank
In the United States, he had the strength, but he would not
Folks said his family were all dead
Their planet crumbled but Superman, he forced himself
To carry on, forget Krypton, and keep going

Tarzan was king of the jungle and Lord over all the apes
But he could hardly string together four words: "I Tarzan, You Jane."

Sometimes when Supe was stopping crimes
I'll bet that he was tempted to just quit and turn his back
On man, join Tarzan in the forest
But he stayed in the city, and kept on changing clothes
In dirty old phonebooths till his work was through
And nothing to do but go on home

 

[The Mike]

Can Supes recharge my ipod?

Only Gen 1-3 but the new iPod Video I believe is not compatable with him.

 

[captain sack]

I never understood how Superman can fly away from the Sun to other worlds and still have his powers and breath in space. Shouldn't that depower him?
What drives me crazy even more is the concept that somehow, Wonder Woman's earrings allow her to breath in space.

I'd love to see the Donner cut of Superman II. Hopefully blockbuster is renting it.

in superman returns, he was de-powered after leaving our solar system. but it seems he would benefit from the exposure to rays of any yellow sun. i don't think the sun in our solar system is anything unique to the universe.

 

[dekadentdave]

There's just one thing about the Donner cut that doesn't make any sense. After Supes "turns back time" AGAIN, he goes back to the diner for a re-match with Rocky. Okay, he "turned back time" so his ass-whooping by Rocky never happened so why beat him up? What's he got to prove? I don't get it.

 

[DarkArtist81]

"Superman's Song"
Crash Test Dummies

Tarzan wasn't a ladies' man
He'd just come along and scoop 'em up under his arm
Like that, quick as a cat in the jungle
But Clark Kent, now there was a real gent
He would not be caught sittin' around in no
Junglescape, dumb as an ape doing nothing

[Chorus:]
Superman never made any money
For saving the world from Solomon Grundy
And sometimes I despair the world will never see
Another man like him

Hey Bob, Supe had a straight job
Even though he could have smashed through any bank
In the United States, he had the strength, but he would not
Folks said his family were all dead
Their planet crumbled but Superman, he forced himself
To carry on, forget Krypton, and keep going

Tarzan was king of the jungle and Lord over all the apes
But he could hardly string together four words: "I Tarzan, You Jane."

Sometimes when Supe was stopping crimes
I'll bet that he was tempted to just quit and turn his back
On man, join Tarzan in the forest
But he stayed in the city, and kept on changing clothes
In dirty old phonebooths till his work was through
And nothing to do but go on home

Very nice Gruff!

And I have to say, after watching the Donner cut today, I loved it. Yes, the rematch end kinda makes no sense... but I still loved it. Zod was menacing and they never tried to dumb down the trio or make humor from them, unlike the old version. Once you try and do that with your villian, you take away the fear and drain the evil from them. It never quite works. I like Donner's approach much better.

And the identity reveal works better this time around, even with the glasses changing from shot to shot. It just makes more sense for Superman, and gets rid of that stupid... "oops, I fell into the fire." nonsense.

And most of all, the inclusion of Marlon Brando's scenes were amazing. And lent the "de-powering" scene a little more weight and depth. Also gave that "The son becomes the Father.... And the Father... Becomes the Son." line from Returns a little more of an emotional current that ties into the saga.

I will definetely be watching this new version instead of the older one. It just works better IMO.... And I know that had Donner been able to finish his film, it would have been even better.

 

[screamingmetal]

Superman is like a rechargable battery. The Yellow Sun charges that battery, the more he is around it, he is constantly being charged up. Just like a battery once you remove it from its charger, its still fully functional and can be used to its full potential for the life of the battery, dependant on the usage the battery will either sustain its energy or if the usage is unusually taxing run out quickly. There have been Superman stories where large fights away from Earth's sun drains him to the point of exhaustion. His fights on Apokolips really drain his battery quickly.

As for Wonder Woman....I don't know, I never really followed her much.

Makes sence to me.

in superman returns, he was de-powered after leaving our solar system. but it seems he would benefit from the exposure to rays of any yellow sun. i don't think the sun in our solar system is anything unique to the universe.

I really didn't get that when I watched it. Of coarse the movie board me to sleep. Sounds like Supes should've been dead if he was away from the Sun for five years. Maybe he stopped off at another yellow star for a recharge.

 

[captain sack]

Makes sence to me.


I really didn't get that when I watched it. Of coarse the movie board me to sleep. Sounds like Supes should've been dead if he was away from the Sun for five years. Maybe he stopped off at another yellow star for a recharge.

actually bryan singer said this in one of the making of documentaries.

 

[Serpentor]

I enjoyed the Donner cut of superman II. It was better then the original cut for sure.

 

[JAWS]

There's just one thing about the Donner cut that doesn't make any sense. After Supes "turns back time" AGAIN, he goes back to the diner for a re-match with Rocky. Okay, he "turned back time" so his ass-whooping by Rocky never happened so why beat him up? What's he got to prove? I don't get it.

Good Point.

I think the turning back time thing in II is just a way to avoid as much of Lesters version as possable. So what we get isn't perfect.

I have had a very busy Superman weekend. I got the box set and watched 1, 2 Donner cut, Returns, and many of the special features. A few of my thoughts.

1. I Still LOVE Superman 1 the best. It is almost a perfect film and has aged well. Superman II use to be my fav. when I was a kid but over the past 10 years I have found Sups II almost unwatchable. Part of that has to do with knowing the film so well and another part has to do with the fact that the film is silly and lacks emotion.

2. The Donner Cut of II - While not perfect it is an improvement over Lester's version. It is choppy at times and it helps that I was so familiar with Lester's version to help fill in some small blanks.

BUT to find out how Superman gets his powers back is better then ANYTHING that was in the Lester version.

3. Superman Returns - When I saw this in the theaters I was very disapointed. It was just too much of a remake. It was a been there done that type film. Lex was made boring because I did not care about his evil plot. Saw that in part I thank you.

But my expectations for this film were high. I thought a repeat viewing might help.

Well after watching Part I and II then watching Returns I found that I like the film even less. It has no soul, no humour, no heart, and because it steals so much from Part I it has no originality.

I am surprised to find that almost 30 years later I found that Part I and II made me belive a man could fly and that thee superior effects of Returns just fell so flat. Christoper Reeve sold the Flying. The new film lacks that.

I have not watched III yet. I have not seen that film in probably 20 years so I am looking foward to that one. I know that overall it's not the best film but I know that I like parts of it.

I am not sure when I will get to IV. I have only seen that film once back when it was released and that really was enough.

 

[dekadentdave]

The best part of 3 is when Supes goes bad and he hasn't shaved and his suit is dirty and then he splits into two halves (like Captain Kirk in Enemy Within) and he fights Clark Kent. Those scenes alone made the entire film worth watching. The rest was just awful.

And don't even bother watching part 4. That film is almost as bad as Batman & Robin. Absolutely retarded. Supes fights Atomic Man. Give me a break. By far the campiest and the stupidest Superman film of them all.

Superman Returns = yawn. What an absolute bore from beginning to end. If Singer wasn't trying so hard to follow in Donner's shadow he could have put his own signature on the thing but instead we just get Donner-lite with pretty-boy Routh. Spacey sucks as Lex. Parker Posey is a recycled Miss Tessmacher. Kate who? Is she suppossed to be Lois? And the kid... the kid...

 

[Gruson]

I agree,

Part 3 is great because of the bad Superman. Classic! The junkyard battle is awesome and the bar scene is great when a drunk Superman is flicking beer nuts.

Plus the blonde is really hot so that's always nice. I also love Richard Pryor so overall I like part 3 more than most.

I prefer part 4 over Returns also. I actually like the Kent scenes in part 4 but overall, it is by far the worst of the Reeve movies. The budget was also cut in half which explains the lame effects.

 

[dekadentdave]

4 gets points for Reeve, but even he looked bored. The biggest problem is that it was produced by Cannon films, a B-movie studio owned by a couple of oil shieks that churned out Chuck Norris classics like Missing in Action and the stupifying Gymkata. There really is a drastic difference in the look and feel of the film going from 3 to 4. The special effects and flying sequences are badly composited and look really hokey. I mean REALLY hokey.

 

[The Mike]

in superman returns, he was de-powered after leaving our solar system. but it seems he would benefit from the exposure to rays of any yellow sun. i don't think the sun in our solar system is anything unique to the universe.

While I didn't follow Singer's little journals on the topic if I remember correctly, Krypton exploded not its sun, which means that the Red Sun in Krypton's solar system would still be active meaning the closer that Kal-El got to that sun the less powerful he'd become which would mean he'd require the use of a spacecraft, etc. Then the further he moved from that sun and closer to any yellow sun he'd begin to power up...

 

[TheObsoleteMan]

Krypton's sun exploded.

 

[JGouse0498]

Yeah, the exploding red sun is the first scene of the movie. There's no mistaking it.

 

[JAWS]

Superman Returns = yawn. What an absolute bore from beginning to end. If Singer wasn't trying so hard to follow in Donner's shadow he could have put his own signature on the thing but instead we just get Donner-lite with pretty-boy Routh. Spacey sucks as Lex. Parker Posey is a recycled Miss Tessmacher. Kate who? Is she suppossed to be Lois? And the kid... the kid...

I could not agree more.

 

[Gruson]

I could not agree more.

Me too!



What a huge let down. I can appreciate what they tried to do with it but whoever had final say in casting Returns should be shot.

No one had any chemistry!

YAWN....

 

[screamingmetal]

actually bryan singer said this in one of the making of documentaries.

I didn't watch any of the documentaries and the sh***y copy I rented from blockbuster had no special features.

Superman Returns = yawn. What an absolute bore from beginning to end. If Singer wasn't trying so hard to follow in Donner's shadow he could have put his own signature on the thing but instead we just get Donner-lite with pretty-boy Routh. Spacey sucks as Lex. Parker Posey is a recycled Miss Tessmacher. Kate who? Is she suppossed to be Lois? And the kid... the kid...

That's exactly how I felt, I was actually falling asleep while watching it at home.
Since there was no special features, I looked online at IMDB and it said that Bryan Singer actually wanted Superman to be looking at the site of the World Trade Center wishing that he had been there to stop 911 from happening. The guy is completely clueless. 911 never took place in the DCU and more appropriately it never took place in Metropolis, anyone who had been a fan would've known that. I'm not even a big DC fan and I know that.
And I never thought I would've gotten sick of hearing the Superman theme from the first two movies, but Superman Returns did just that to me.

In the movie, Krypton's star went supernova; but in the comics, the planet just exploded.
Regardless, I think there might have been enough radiation left over from the explosion or Kryptonite to depower Superman.

 

[dekadentdave]

Singer said in an interview that he isn't a big comic book fan yet he just "fell into it" with X-men so everyone just thinks he's the big comic book director.